Wine Trip
Rhone Valley France!
Travel to the Rhone Valley of France with us!
Here is a short itinerary of our trips
Here’s a short condensed itinerary of our wine trip
The wines featured this month and from both Northern and Southern Rhone, two neighboring but very different wine regions.
Car rental is a great way to get around however, trains can be fairly easy to use or a private car.
Wine tour drivers are also available but usually hiring a private driver is the way to go as the commercial tours generally feature pretty boring wineries.
Flights directly to Lyon are the quickest but flights to Paris combined with a train to Lyon is also possible.
Amazing Wines of Gonon
The magic wines coming from the Gonon estate in St Joseph. Pure, beautiful and always great. Meeting with Pierre in his vineyard, his joy and pride in his work was palpable. For my money, there isn’t a better wine from the Rhone Valley.
Hills of Gigondas
Taking a break in the hills of Gigondas for a delicious swing of wine. The hills offer some elevation which preserves freshness in sometimes overblown wine of the Southern Rhone.
Domain Mayard, a Revelation!
Perhaps my favorite wines of the Southern Rhone, the wines were vibrant and wonderful. Fresh, balanced, and intensely flavored, these wines had it all. Here we are learning about their unique farming practices which assuredly impacts the flavors of the wines.
The Chapel on the Hill of Hermitage
One of the most iconic sites of the Rhone Valley, the Chapel of Hermitage. Home the the hermit knight on the hill, this mountain now is the source of some the world’s greatest red (and white!) wines.
L’Oustalet
Finishing off an epic wine night at the delicious L’Oustalet. Deep and fun wine list and impressive fresh menu. Outdoor seating in the summer is amazing.
Steep Vineyards of Cote Rotie
“The Roasted Slope” of Cote Rotie. The schist cliffs were buring hot that day, the dark red grapes ripening in the bright sunlight. The near vertical vineyard required some serious effort to summit!